1.10.

Luddite Earldom to Rika Nation.

Rika's territory was initially supposed to be regarded as a duchy of Equestria Empire. Just that, because of how she kept stressing the word 'nation', the 'duchy' part of 'Rika' changed to 'nation'. There were also other regulations she had imposed that went against the cultural norms of the empire, such that people felt that it was more of its own state.

Ideally, the caravan would have to travel from Luddite Earldom, to the capital city of Equestria Empire in five days. From there, they will have to buy a pass to take a warp gate to arrive at Rika Nation.

The caravan relay station was packed with people. There were food stamps and cheapskate stores set up everywhere. Carriages of various models were arranged along the side of the road.

"I got the tickets," Leticia waved.

"Which coach are we hopping on?" Lilian asked.

There were at least a hundred carriages in sight.

"Number WD9, Reign model."

"That black one?" Sequencee pointed to a black caravan.

"Let's check it out," Ro said.

The four members headed over and confirmed that it was indeed plated as WD9.

"So where is the coachmen?"

"There are a couple linked carriages together. Looks like it won't just be us alone."

"Well, that's good for safety at least."

It was a 4-link caravan with the main carriage at the very front. The four noticed how there were also a few people seated nearby this carriage, presumably those who had gotten tickets to ride on this particular caravan.

Ro reached out to one of them.

"Excuse me, are you going to Equestria Empire too?"

"Yes, we are. Perhaps you're a passenger for this too?"

"Yes! Do you know where the coachman is? Or when we'll depart?"

"He went to have a snack, was what we were told. It'll be another half an hour before he'll come back."

"Is that so?"

"Too bad.." Lilian voiced.

Heaving a sigh, the four of them had no choice but to bear with the wait.

===

Darararararara–

The engine of the caravan hummed.

It had been five hours since they left the port. Luddite Earldom had already become nothing but a dot in the distance.

The link caravans followed the obvious trail on the ground as it headed towards Equestria Empire. A couple hundred meters in the front was a carriage, and a couple hundred meters behind was also another carriage.

The caravan they were in passed another caravan moving in the opposite direction.

"Man, can't believe we actually left home.. feels pretty lonely out here," Ro said, gazing towards the grassland.

"Don't say that! I'm really going to cry, you know.." Lilian gritted her teeth.

"It's alright, you can cry. There's nothing wrong with that," Leticia soothed the teary-eyed Lilian.

"Hikh.."

"Don't you miss home, Sequencee?" Ro asked.

"Somewhat."

The teachers that have taken care of him, the transient friends he made, the colleagues at the tavern he had worked with– to think he was going to leave all of those memories behind.

"Haah.. I wanna cry too," Ro sighed deeply.

"Men don't cry.. !" Lilian said in between tears.

"I'm pretty sure they do," Sequencee recalled the last time that happened. Quite the unpleasant memory.

"Anyone hungry? We still hadn't eaten our rations yet."

"I don't feel so hungry, yet."

"Give me!"

"L-Later.."

Sequencee looked out of the caravan. To the left was a deep forest named after the founder, Norcto's woodland. To the right was a vast plain ending towards a colossal ravine that stretched from the Earldom to the capital city of Equestria. The trail the caravan was on followed along the parameter of the ravine.

The Black Ravine, also a dungeon which adventurers would explore to uncover relics, could be dated back to eons before their era. The summoning technique for other-worlders was found among the relics inside this dungeon during the darkest moments of humanity.

Though Hero Rika was summoned 500 years ago, some historians believe that summoning rituals were something the human race had performed even before then. At this current pinnacle of humanity, there still remained many mysteries shrouding the past. Most archaic records were lost during the war 500 years ago.

"Sequencee, are you really not going to eat?" Leticia called out.

Sequence snapped out of his thoughts and noticed how everyone was nibbling on a piece of bread.

"Thanks Leticia."

"You're welcome."

===

Don't travel at night. This was an unarguable principle most travelers abided by.

Unless the caravan was heavily fortified by knights or had some defensive mechanism in place, travelling in the darkness should be avoided.

Two major reasons.

One, many nocturnal monsters become active during this time, and two, fatigue.

The vast plains to the right side of the road provided suitable rest areas for travelers. Should there be monster packs that appear from the forest on the left, travelers were in an advantageous position to defend themselves.

And, if one camp were to face an inevitable difficulty, they can fire flares into the sky to call out to nearby camps. With the distance between neighbouring travelers no more than a kilometer, targeted camps could receive help.

That said, monster attacks like these seldom happen. Nevertheless, better safe than sorry.

The caravans Sequencee rode was parked in the meadow of grass far from the forest. Dinner was on the tab of the generous coachman. Sequencee had a chance to talk to the other passenger over a bowl of warm soup.

A couple planning to find a job in the capital city.

An adventurer party which received an invitation from a noble house to handle some requests.

A group of magic scholars who were going to present their research at the national magic conference.

Ro resonated with the adventurers, Lilian resonated with the scholars.

Leticia and Sequencee merely tuned in and mixed with whoever they found interesting.

Passengers aside, the coachman had one guard to act as a sentinel during the night so everyone may sleep in peace.

Sequencee thought Ro's suggestion to book a more expensive caravan turned out to be worth it. Though the cost was 50 silver (5,000G) each, it spared them a lot of trouble.

The guard was a female beastkin.. slave.

Beastkin were considered by the human race as corrupt because they cooperated with the demons in the war long ago. As such, human nations naturally detested the beastkin nations. Of course, this social barrier was very slowly crumbling.

'The coach guy treats her well, probably.'

The lean woman with auburn-coloured wolf ears and tail was well-clothed and had some decent armor around her. There was obvious fur on her arms and she didn't have the image of a typical slave Sequencee imagined, nevertheless, the black magic crest on her neck gave it away.

After dinner, each of them went back to the caravan. The coachman said that he would call them awake 30 minutes before departure so that everyone can get themselves ready for the trip ahead.

Without a bath, the four of them had no choice but to sleep in their clothes like that for the coming few days.

"Maybe we can wake up super early and take a makeshift bath somewhere," Lilian suggested.

"Just wipe down with a cloth and change our clothes would do wouldn't it?" Ro said.

"There's that also.."

"Whatever it is, we need to decide who to keep watch tonight. We'll do two shifts," Leticia announced.

"Keep watch? I don't think there's any need for that right?" Sequencee said.

"It's essential. You don't know who to trust," Leticia was adamant.

"Then I'll do it," Ro said.

"No. You guys can sleep. My magic will trigger if anyone comes close," Sequencee said.

"What?"

"You have something convenient like that?"

"Huh? Since when..?"

Leticia was surprised that he knew of such a magic while Ro and Lilian saw Sequencee in a new light.

"Yeah. So don't worry about it. It even works if I'm asleep."

"Well.. if you put it like that.." Leticia didn't want to stay up on patrol if it were possible.

"Sequencee, I didn't know your magic was that good?" Lilian exclaimed in surprise.

"Ah.. that explains why the elf princess chose you," Ro mumbled.

"Yeah. So you guys don't need to worry. Just go to sleep."

"I trust you alright?"

"Yup."